1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic shopping system for selling a vehicle device desired by a consumer by means of communication with a consumer terminal device via a network, and more particularly to an electronic shopping system having the capability of determining a dealer who is to install a sold vehicle device on a vehicle of the consumer who purchased the vehicle device and also having the capability of determining the date/time when the vehicle device is to be installed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, Internet communication means such as an Internet television has become very popular, and is used for sales in a wide variety of forms which are not limited by physical distribution. For example, in an electronic shopping system on the Internet, a consumer accesses a web site of a dealer and purchases a desired product. After that, payment is performed in a predetermined manner, and the product is sent from the dealer. Thus, the sales procedure is completed.
Some products are required to be installed by skilled persons. For example, vehicle devices such as a car audio device and a navigation unit practically cannot be installed on a vehicle by a consumer, and such devices are generally installed by dealers. In Internet electronic shopping systems which sell vehicle devices, if the system has the capability of determining the dealer who is to perform installation and the date/time of the installation, the user is required only to visit the dealer by his/her car on the installation date/time. The user can wait for a short period of time until the installation is completed, and the user can drive his/her car immediately after the completion of the installation. Thus, a great improvement in service to consumers can be achieved.
Furthermore, if the electronic shopping system has the capability of determining installation kits, cables, connectors, and the like required in installation depending upon installation grades, it becomes possible to deliver the required installation kits and vehicle devices to dealers by the installation date/time, and it becomes unnecessary for the dealers to make additional arrangements to obtain the installation kits. In this case, what is required for the dealers is simply to perform installation.